The run to Division I: Intercollegiate athletics and the broader interests of colleges and universities.

Abstract

An intercollegiate athletics program has the ability to provide unique insight into the college or university that sponsors it. The presence or absence of a program and its level of competition can provide a proxy for understanding a university's broader interests. A comparative case study of four universities examined the rationale for changing athletic classification and the realization of anticipated effects for each school. A conceptual framework derived from institutional theory guided the research. The rationale for changing intercollegiate athletic classification was based on expected benefits for undergraduate admissions, alumni support and development, community relationships, campus life, university visibility, and university association. The quality and quantity of undergraduate applicants improved at universities with regional recruiting areas and when the men's basketball team received a bid to the NCAA tournament. Alumni donations and support were directed towards athletics with no observed effect for general university fund-raising. Community relationships and campus life showed improvement at universities that hosted international or national athletic competitions or built new facilities in conjunction with Division I membership. Visibility was enhanced in all cases through exposure on CNN or ESPN and through positive local media portrayal. Benefits of association with peer schools were observed in each case and generally related to conference affiliation. In each case, intercollegiate athletics was part of an institutionalized environment. The athletic program conformed to rationalized institutional myths about appropriate university form and provided legitimacy and resources for the sponsoring university. Each university used athletics to engage in mimetic isomorphism and respond to organizational uncertainty in a conscious attempt to imitate peer universities and conform with expected social norms.